Some vehicles, such as motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles (i.e. UTV, “side-by-side”) are capable of transporting their occupants (driver, passengers) under various speed, terrain (e.g., on-road or off-road) and weather conditions. Such driving conditions can expose the occupants of the vehicle to air flow, debris (e.g., soil, mud, gravel, sand, or snow, etc.) and weather elements (e.g., rain, sleet, snow, etc.), adversely affecting them. Conventionally, such vehicles may be equipped with rigidly-fixed windshields to protect their occupants.
Under some conditions, such rigidly-fixed windshields may be less than optimal. For example, a vehicle that is a UTV may be driven over muddy terrain and/or in cold weather conditions and have its windshield obstructed by an accumulation of debris. This debris may be difficult to remove by conventional means on the vehicle such as irrigated windshield wipers and/or heaters. In such situations, the driver would need to stop the vehicle to clean the windshield.
Known solutions exist to improve the effectiveness of a vehicle's windshield to meet the occupant's needs, including those which change with respect to changing driving conditions.
For example, some vehicles are equipped with windshields that are sized to protect the occupants by shielding the front aspect of the cabin from the hood to the roof in full (i.e., full windshield) or in part (i.e., half windshield). Understandably, a half windshield may provide some degree of protection from air flow and debris by extending upwardly from the hood and stopping short of the occupant's line of sight, maintaining some degree of visibility.
In addition, a vehicle may have a windshield that is removably fastened to the vehicle (i.e., an operative position). When maximum air flow and visibility are desired, the windshield may be manually unfastened and stored (i.e., an inoperative position), although inconveniently requiring the vehicle to be stopped when so doing.
Moreover, some vehicles may be equipped with windshield adjustment mechanisms to allow an occupant to move the windshield to and from operative and inoperative positions while the windshield remains attached to the vehicle. However, due to the demanding driving conditions UTVs are made for, it is inopportune to directly transpose the windshield adjustment mechanisms not specifically designed for UTVs to such vehicles.
For example, known windshield adjustment mechanisms impart a windshield with a limited range of motion, which may render one or both of its operative and inoperative positions less effective than those of a removably fastened windshield for the same vehicle. Other known windshield adjustment mechanisms are arranged such that the windshield is imparted with a sequence of translating and/or pivoting motions, resulting in the windshield being aligned with respect to either the hood or the roof of the vehicle when in the inoperative position. They are, however, not without their drawbacks.
Under certain conditions, such mechanisms may undesirably shift the center of mass of the windshield, of any debris accumulated on the windshield, of the mechanism and of the occupant, should the mechanism be manually operated, and potentially reduce the UTV's stability.
In addition, the kinematics of such mechanisms may result in undesirable decreases in protection and visibility levels while the windshield is in between the operative and inoperative positions.
Furthermore, the kinematics of such mechanisms may require clearance in areas prone to debris accumulation such as the hood or the roof, and/or create a space between vehicle and mechanism elements in which debris could be trapped while the windshield is in between the operative and inoperative positions, potentially rendering the mechanism inoperable until the debris is removed.
Therefore, it is believed that there is a need for windshield adjustment mechanisms being particularly, although not exclusively, adapted to UTVs.